Douglas Edward Seavert was born at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on June 28, 1925. His parents were Edward A. Seavert (30 Aug 1898 – 25 Dec 1968), who was born at Boone County, Iowa; and Florence Constance (Hale) Seavert (27 Nov 1901 – 8 Apr 1985), who was born at Cleveland, Ohio. His parents married at Cleveland on June 5, 1924. His father was a teller and vault clerk for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. During World War I his father served as a Sergeant in the 482 Motor Transportation Company.
He had two siblings: Edward A. Seavert Jr (6 Dec 1927 – 14 Feb 1997) and Dolores Florence (Seavert) Moore (3 May 1931 – 23 Oct 2013), who were born at Cleveland, Ohio. By April 1935 the family lived at Avon Lake, Lorain County, Ohio, just west of Cleveland.
He graduated from Avon Lake High School in 1943, and registered for the draft at North Ridgeville, Ohio on June 28, 1943, his eighteenth birthday. He was 6 feet tall, weighed 150 pounds, and had blue eyes and brown hair. At that time he was employed by National Carbon Company in Cleveland, and worked as a chemist, assayer, or metallurgist. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Cleveland on August 12, 1943. His home of record was 151 South Point Drive, Avon Lake, Ohio.
He completed Army Air Forces radio operator training (probably at Sioux Falls, South Dakota), followed by aerial gunnery training at Yuma, Arizona. His next stop was Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was assigned as radio operator-gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Second Lieutenant Robert H. Portsch of Bloomfield, New Jersey. The Portsch crew completed B-24 crew training at Pueblo, Colorado, and was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The crew arrived at Station 137 by December 28, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. After arrival, the crew made an immediate transition to the Boeing B-17 'Flying Fortress' heavy bomber, which the 487th Bomb Group was flying at that time.
On March 14, 1945, Lt Portsch's crew flew B-17G 44-6570 on the 487th Bomb Group mission to bomb a tank factory at Hannover, Germany. The aircraft's number two engine failed soon after crossing the English channel, and Lt Portsch was forced to abort the mission. The engine then caught fire, which forced the crew to bail out just as they reached the English coast near Lowestoft. S/Sgt Seavert was killed when he pulled his parachute release too soon after bailing out. He struck the tail of the aircraft and fell on the grounds of Dell Primary School on Dell Road in Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. Lt Portsch stayed at the controls while his crew bailed out, and attempted to head the plane back out to sea. He was killed when he abandoned the aircraft at too low an altitude. The aircraft exploded just before it crashed in a field at Grove Farm in Carlton Colville, a suburb of Lowestoft, at about 52.45388°N, 1.71294°E. Lt Portsch's body was found near the crash site with an unopened parachute. The other seven crew members survived. They are:
• F/O Clifford N. Britton – T-127149 – Copilot
• 2/Lt William V. Ward – O-2070194 – Navigator
• S/Sgt James D. Bain – 34167936 – Engineer
• Sgt Epimenio Montoya – 19151193 – Ball Turret Gunner
• Sgt Jerome J. Woyci – 36829530 – Waist Gunner
• Sgt Frank W. Powell – 12093409 – Tail Gunner
• Sgt Clarence V. Baker – 35385150 – Nose Gunner/Togglier
S/Sgt Seavert is buried at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England.
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com